Tanner's Influence Podcast

Introducing Melanie Paris Jones: A Catalyst for Community Connection and Positivity in Utah's Business Scene In a remarkably short time, Melanie Paris Jones has emerged as a transformative figure in the Utah business community. As the Editor of Utah Business , Melanie's journey to this pivotal role has been anything but linear. Her diverse experiences have uniquely positioned her as a powerful con...

McKenzie Bauer is one half of the married duo founder team at Utah icon Thread Wallets. With classic startup beginnings – picture them sewing in the parent's basement, McKenzie is anything but your typical founder. Join us for one of the most authentic and refreshing Influence podcasts yet. McKenzie gets real about everything from mental health to thoughts on the future. For Thread, this is a time...

Allison Roberts embodies the drive and intensity so often associated with successful entrepreneurs. Leveraging out of the industry learnings (when you shiver you burn calories) and applying it cross industry, she's created an easy path for anyone to engage in regular exercise. Fastercise is a disruptive approach in the crowded genre of app-based exercise focusing on quick bursts of movement. Unlik...

Misty Frost has emerged as a voice for authentic leadership. She's an a-typical Utah native with an East Coast vibe and dry wit that kept us laughing. Her experience runs deep and wide as a marketing and leader for several successful companies. As the SVP of Global Marketing on the Instructure rocket ship she helped navigate a successful IPO. She currently serves as CEO for Penn Foster post the Ca...

By Karey Barker's estimation, she's only had one job in her entire career. When you found and lead a successful venture firm, you need not apply elsewhere! Garrett sat down with the Cross Creek founder and Managing Director in her Research Park office for a fun and fascinating look at her 25-year journey. Tune in to hear how she got her start, how she navigates the intense world of venture investi...

Dean Brigitte Madrian is the first female Dean of BYU's Marriott School of Business and is herself an alumna earning her degree in Economics. She went on to get her Ph. D. in Economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Through her illustrious career, Dr. Madrian served on the faculties of several Ivy League schools including, University of Pennsylvania, University of Chicago, and Harvard...

A HUMBLE VISIONARY: OUR TALK WITH DAVID WRIGHT, CEO OF PATTERN In this Influence Podcast, we have the pleasure of talking with David Wright, the Co-founder & CEO of Pattern. Pattern was a small startup in 2013 but is now recognized as the leader in "growth intelligence" that is helping leading e-commerce brands dramatically increase their online sales. David Wright and Melanie Alder started Patter...

"FOR EVERYONE'S PITS & STINKY BITS" – A PODCAST WITH LUME In this Influence Podcast, we get to peer into the creative world of Dr. Shannon Klingman, a highly regarded obstetrician and gynecologist, and Jennifer Gibson, her CAO, sister, and earliest supporter. Shannon Klingman is the visionary entrepreneur who created a whole new category in the multi-billion-dollar personal hygiene sector.  It all...

SALES FREAK, CEO, ADDICT & AUTHOR: A TALK WITH MICHAEL DASH Michael Dash is a sales freak. While attending University of Maryland, Michael sold home improvement services door-to-door on the mean streets of Baltimore and Washington D.C. He is a successful entrepreneur/CEO who moved to Utah where he knew only one person and started Parallel HR Solutions, a company that "pairs individuals and compani...

"The truth is, we almost didn't make it." – Podcast insights from Aaron Suzuki, Founder & CEO of Prowess Consulting and SmartDeploy At the age of 26, Aaron Suzuki found himself growing a regional Internet application development firm in Utah in the ashes of the dotcom bubble. By 2003, Aaron had moved to Seattle and co-founded Prowess Consulting, a dynamic moshpit of software engineers, web develop...

Blake Modersitski has an exceptional track record as a software-focused investor that backs great entrepreneurs then helps them achieve extraordinary results. He is also a great human being! Over his 17 years at Pelion Venture Partners , Blake has had a string of top-20 venture hits with remarkable companies: Redhat, Riverbed, Fusion.io, Integral Ad Science, DOMO, enCommerce, Soasta, Metacloud, an...

JD Machine's Pleasant View office looks like an upscale engineering or architectural firm. It also looks and feels like a one of the most progressive and automated machine shops in the United States. It's very clean, very cutting edge and enjoys rave reviews from employees on Glassdoor (4.7 out of 5). In 1979 a master machinist named Don Wardle moved to back to Utah from California and settled in...

Our most recent Influence interview with Rob Jeppsen and Gary Rhoads, the co-founders of Xvoyant , made me think of the lyrics of David Byrne… Rob Jeppsen is a sales and marketing genius who starts and grows companies like Allegiance Technologies and Xvoyant. And he's a card-carrying expert at helping big companies like Valvoline, Waste Management, and Adobe win more clients. In short, Rob collect...

Kory Stevens, the founder and CEO of Taft Clothing , always leads with his heart! It's the first thing we noticed when we interviewed him and one of many things everyone he meets quickly appreciates. So, when Kory had a dream of starting his own company with his wife, Mallory, it became an obsession. They named their company "Taft" after their son and their shoes after Taft's friends. Taft began i...

Jonathan Johnson very modestly describes himself as "a recovering lawyer." A lawyer by training, Jonathan was Overstock.com 's general counsel before becoming president. Jonathan and Patrick Byrne, Overstock.com's founder and CEO, took Overstock from a private startup to a publicly traded company with over $2 billion in sales and 2,000 employees. They have been good at seeing new opportunities. Ov...

Shawn Moon is fully present and fully engaged. He's not a multitasker. And when you meet him, you quickly sense that you are talking to a very disciplined, very different kind of leader. Part psychologist, part strategist, part Zen Ninja, Shawn is the author of several respected books on leadership, among them The Ultimate Competitive Advantage and Talent Unleashed . He spent most of his career he...

Todd Davis, the Chief People Officer of Franklin Covey, believes "feedback is the breakfast of champions!" More than just a good quote, you can tell he really believes in feedback, feels it in his bones and eats it for breakfast every day. He sets a high personal bar and asks questions out loud that most people seldom dare to think about. "How extraordinary am I in my key roles?" "What are my most...

Bjorn Espenes and Eric Maas met in Park City in 1999. After working together for 10 years to build a successful SaaS eCommerce company, they were frustrated that no one had the ability to provide consistent paid search solutions for their customers. And they began to believe they could somehow build a platform that could predict the profit of any "click" before a customer bought it. They decided t...

We recently had the pleasure of interviewing Ragula Bhaskar ("Bhaskar") the visionary co-founder and CEO of FatPipe Networks . Over twenty-five years ago when networks as we know them were just beginning, Bhaskar and his wife, Sanch Datta (co-founder, President and CTO of FatPipe) had the determined vision to start a company that is now widely regarded by Gartner and other industry experts as the...

You may not expect a pest control company to have a full-sized NCAA basketball court and a golf simulator inside their headquarters—but then, you may not expect a lot of things about Aptive Environmental 's unique culture and amazing vibe. Modeled after the slick beauty of leading tech companies, Aptive has been a disruptor in the pest control industry by offering the best technology and solutions...

Anyone who has had the pleasure of meeting Theresa Foxley, quickly recognizes her as someone people want to listen to and immediately like. She humbly describes herself as "the unabashed cheerleader for the State of Utah", but Theresa is also very strategic, intelligent, and people smart! After her many successes as Deputy Director of the Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED), in Januar...

"Successful entrepreneurs do not wait until the Muse kisses them and gives them a bright idea; they go to work!"   – Peter Drucker Our recent interview with Brad Ouderkirk reminded us that the founders of high-growth companies don't take no for an answer. In the words of the late Peter Drucker, "they go to work!" Five years ago, Brad was a successful general contractor who hated the leaky gas cans...

We were inspired by the creative mojo we felt during our recent visit with Troy D'Ambrosio and Garrett Holm of the Lassonde Studios . Troy is the inspired Executive Director who worked with one of the University of Utah's biggest benefactors, Pierre Lassonde, to create a special place where students, researchers, engineers and professors could come together to create new companies. Garrett is the...

Ten years ago, Rhonda Nicoloff became the president of A&K Railroad Materials , the leading supplier of new and used track materials in the United States. But Rhonda's path to the top of A&K Railroad began in 1991 when she began her career at A&K as an entry level sales professional. She has never looked back! A graduate of Indiana University, Rhonda has always had her feet firmly planted on the g...

Sometimes you find innovation and inspiration in the most unexpected places. In this week's Influence Podcast we experienced both as we had the pleasure of meeting with Jeff Miller the Co-owner and General Manager of both Mark Miller Subaru Dealerships and JCO Financial. Jeff and Mark are counterintuitive disruptors in the automotive industry. Their flagship stores, one located in a dealership tha...